Here's how Carter Bear can become a full-time Red Wing next season

With all the uncertainty surrounding the Detroit Red Wings, Carter Bear provides a calm, confident and humble presence. 

Unlike the current dressing room that seemingly ran out of excuses, Bear is soaking up every moment of his second development camp from being drafted.

Speaking with the media on the first day of Development Camp, Bear carried his all-too-familiar poise that fans have come to expect from the mature 19-year-old. His words echoed from exchanges in the past when he returned from injury with the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League (WHL): no excuses. 

He could have great excuses for his slow start to the 2025-26 season in his final junior season. Rather than feeling sorry for himself or taking anger out on teammates,  Bear persevered through any and all roadblocks with a smile.

While Bear didn’t eclipse his total points from the 2024-25 regular season with the Silvertips (in 2024-25 he recorded 82 points and this most recent season he earned 77 points), he was electric at the most important time in his team's season. In 18 postseason games, Bear recorded seven goals and 15 assists for a total of 22 points. His +22 rating was nice, as well.

Bear's tenacity perfect for Red Wings

Bear’s game is one of absolutes. Not the fastest or most skilled, but he hates losing. He hates losing more than he loves winning -- a foreign trait to the current Red Wings roster. At times, they seemed like they expected to lose. 

Whether it’s a board battle, board play or on the scoresheet, Bear needs to beat his opponent. His intensity can sometimes get him in trouble—as his 24 penalty minutes in the playoffs and 56 penalty minutes in 53 regular season illustrate, he definitely has room to improve the emotional side of things.

Intensity isn’t something Detroit has in its lineup with or without its soon-to-be-former captain, Dylan Larkin. Adding a player that has it in spades changes the dynamic of the team.

We see it in spurts from guys like Lucas Raymond, Marco Kasper,and Albert Johansson. Of course, Moritz Seider is as reliable as anybody in the NHL all over the ice. Bear seems just a bit hungrier when compared to these players.

Maybe it’s in part because of his background, just his personality or his maturity, but he seems built differently than the rest of the roster.

He might score a game-changing goal, make an effective play that electrifies both the crowd and his teammates or he just performs the simple things effectively. When momentum swings in an opponent’s direction, Bear helps to slow their momentum, allowing his team to regain footing.

It’s quite the contrast to the ever-growing snowball that is the Detroit Red Wings in March in seasons’ passed.

Bear's attitude reminiscent of older Red Wings

Bear views playing professional hockey as a privilege. That's a mentality the Detroit Red Wings has missed for some time. Bear is honored to learn from players like Niklas Kronwall and Dan Cleary.

While Bear has so much to learn from Seider and Raymond, there’s quite a bit he can teach the entire dressing room, too.

This will be Bear’s first professional season of hockey. If last preseason provided any semblance of expectations, though, Bear is prepared to give it his all every shift. More impressively, those games came right after the flashy forward recovered from his achilles injury. Even if it wasn’t as competitive or high intensity as regular season games, his output every shift was nothing short of impressive.

So much so, that it seemed like Detroit Red Wings’ head coach, Todd McLellan, didn’t want to let him return to juniors. 

This season, Bear is all but penciled into the Grand Rapids opening night lineup. 

That said, it’s possible that he follows in Raymond’s footsteps and skips the AHL altogether. The Red Wings would certainly be better if he makes the leap from the start of next season.

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